Last week, I happened to interview two people in the same day who shared childhood memories of their experiences with snakes.
The first was Kin Schilling, founder of the Cornucopia Project. Kin, who grew up on a farm in Massachusetts, told me she used to pick up little garter snakes and carry them around in her pockets. One time, her mother opened the washing machine and a garter snake shot out, scaring her half to death.
“My mother said I was to never, ever do that again,” Kin remembered with a laugh.
(My full interview with Kin, who is the speaker at Jaffrey Civic Center’s “Stories to Share” event on Friday night, will run in the Arts section on Thursday.)
Kin’s attitudes toward snakes are on the unusual end of the spectrum (not surprising, as she is a very unusual person!).
Later that same day, here in Greenfield, I went to interview Andrea Grant of Red Barn Studio about her upcoming collaboration with Morphs and Milestones, “Snake Yoga,” which is happening on Sunday, March 15 at 11 a.m.
Andrea, whose family has lived in Francestown for generations, says she grew up “snake-phobic.”
“I have a huge, lifelong snake phobia. My older brother used to taunt me with snakes, and I was five years younger, so I would just run away screaming,” Grant said. “Now, he’s the one I call when I have snake in my house at 5 a.m. He has absolutely no fear of snakes.”
Living in Francestown, Grant was aware of the amazing work of Morphs and Milestones, a family-run nonprofit organization that brings reptile “animal ambassadors” to educational and therapeutic settings to connect with children and adults with developmental delays and special needs.
“I started following ‘Morphs’ on social media, and then, on Labor Day, my granddaughter wanted go see the snakes, and I thought, I can do this — I can face my fear,” Grant said. “Even for me, as a grandmother, it was a huge thing to say, ‘You know what? My whole life, I have been afraid of snakes, but I don’t need to continue to be afraid. I realized I can work on those fears and how to handle it; I can breathe through it.”
Grant says Nate and Brenda Monty, founders of Morphs and Milestones, enabled her to start to work through her fear of snakes.
“Sometimes, it just takes good people who can be patient with you. They understand you are uncomfortable, and they can just guide you through it. That’s what was helpful for me,” she said. “They stood with me, they literally took deep breaths with me, they encouraged me, and I was able to do it, so other people can, too! It took me many decades, but I got there.”
Soon after that, Grant came across some social media videos of yoga with snakes.
“I always watch different yoga videos, and I started to see some snake yoga. I sent a video to Nate, and he said, we should do a collaboration! And I said I was all for it,” Grant said.
The Monty family founded Morphs and Milestones after their daughter, Autumn, who has a rare chromosomal disorder that affects her ability to communicate, began to form connections with reptiles and was able to learn sign language for the first time.
Morphs and Milestones also rescues and rehabilitates abandoned and abused animals.
Grant, a longtime practitioner of yoga, was not planning to open her own yoga studio when she and her husband bought the old lumber mill property on Forest Road. The couple, who run a tree service, needed storage space for their equipment. They also offer car storage in the former lumber barn.
“Then we came into the upstairs space, which was the old lumber showroom, and I said, hmm, this is a pretty nice space,” Grant said.
The studio in New Boston where Grant had been practicing had recently closed, and she had just received her Vinyasa certification.
“So I thought, why not take the leap?” Grant said.
The Red Barn Studio, which opened in November, offers vinyasa power yoga with weights three times week, a Tuesday stretch class led by Mary Clisbee, and other special events, including a sound healing and reiki event on March 3.
Grant says the “Snake Yoga” class is designed for people who are at all different comfort levels with reptiles.
“I’m hoping that at least one or two people will walk away a little less fearful of snakes. They are part of nature, too,” Grant said.
The class will use a red/green card system, where participants can indicate their comfort level with the animal ambassadors.
“Nate will set up the animals’ habitats in the studio; he’ll have the wood stand for the boa. Then they’ll come around with the animals, and anyone with a green card who would like to welcome an ambassador, they will visit individually. They will give each person time to look at the animals, or if they are interested, to touch them within their poses and breathe. The comfort level is a huge thing,” Grant said. “Yoga is all about overcoming obstacles, about learning to breathe through things and be in the moment.”
There are still a few slots open for Snake Yoga.
“I’m really happy to help a really wonderful local nonprofit. It’s great we can help each other. They are awesome people, I love them,” Grant said.